Facebook shares more popular at $40 now than at IPO

Facebook’s
stock has been on a roll of late, surging nearly 70% since the start of the quarter and poised for a new record closing high on Monday.

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Most notably, the stock at $40 is more popular with Wall Street analysts now than at the time of the company\’s IPO, which priced the shares at $38 despite many views that the social network\’s valuation was already high. The percentage of buy ratings on Facebook has risen from a little over 50% after the company went public to a more than 70% today, according data from FactSet. A few brokers now have set price targets of $45 and above.

Facebook shares are climbing as “a result of its momentum in mobile,\” he told MarketWatch. Once considered a serious weakness in Facebook’s business, mobile had steadily become its strength. As of the second quarter, mobile represented 41% of Facebook’s total advertising revenue, up from 30% in the first quarter.

And Facebook may be just getting started, Rice added.

“I would also highlight that we are still in the early growth stages for Facebook,” Rice continued.

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